Susquehannock basketball phenom Jarace Walker taking his talents out of state

Jarace Walker, an 8th grader at Southern Middle School is quickly becoming a recognized face in the YAIAA basketball world.
Jason Plotkin, York Daily Record

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Jarace Walker, 14, soars above his teammates at Susquehannock and ninth grade opponents of Dover High School during a recent game in the auxiliary gym of Susquehannock high school.(Photo11: Jason Plotkin, York Daily Record)Buy Photo

The area's most highly-regarded basketball prospect has decided to leave before ever playing a high school game.

Susquehannock's Jarace Walker — rated as one of the top eighth-grade players in the nation — plans to attend the prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, for the 2018-19 school year.

Walker, who is 6-foot-4 and still growing, dunks and shoots 3-pointers with ease while playing for the school's ninth-grade team (eighth graders are ineligible for varsity competition).

He has spent the past few years playing for elite AAU and Premier Youth Basketball League teams around Baltimore and Washington, D.C. He also considered transferring to one of several private schools in Maryland that feature prominent basketball programs.

He already is receiving recruiting letters from colleges such as Syracuse.

His sister, Jaden Walker, is a standout junior at Susquehannock who has accepted a basketball scholarship to St. Joseph's University.

"When we went to IMG, it was a totally different level of what we were looking at than in Maryland," said his father, Horace Walker. "The individual coaching, the nutrition part of it and the history of making people better in sports. That's what they do. They're a sports school."

Horace Walker said his second-oldest daughter, Sherelle, 21, plans to move to Florida to be near Jarace.

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Jarace Walker, right, jokes around with Jalen Franklin when the two were eighth graders playing for the Susquehannock freshman team.(Photo11: File, York Daily Record)

IMG is arguably the nation's premier multi-sport boarding school with a college prep curriculum — and a $75,000 per-year price tag, before financial aid. Their varsity basketball team was ranked as high as No. 3 nationally in 2016 and finished 11th in the country in last year's USA TODAY poll.

This year's team began the season with players committed to colleges such as Kansas, LSU and Arkansas.

They play 45 to 50 games per year, including the spring club season, as a traveling independent. Their 500-acre campus is 50 miles south of Tampa and boasts "Division I-grade facilities," from the weight rooms and training rooms to the academic center.

Horace Walker said Jarace convinced him and his wife to travel the 1,000 miles away from home for high school.

IMG possesses "the people in my life to help me get ready for college," Jarace said. "Just the opportunities I will have there, from the weight room to the nutrition ... So many other resources other schools don't have.

Another video of Walker (story continues below):

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Jarace Walker, a 6-foot-2 seventh-grader on Southern Middle School's ninth-grade team, is ranked among the Top 10 players his age in the country. And he can dunk the ball in games.
Chris Dunn, York Daily Record

"It's definitely going to be hard leaving my family, but to get where I want to be in life, I think it's the right decision ..."

Jarace will leave the Southern York County School District he grew up in since kindergarten. He would have played for a Susquehannock team that has not made a postseason run in more than a decade and hasn't won a district title since 1982.

His sister helped the Warriors to their first girls' basketball district title last year.

"It's not that we don't care for the community; we do care," Horace Walker said. "It's just that Jarace is a different kind of kid. What he has is at a higher level."

His dream is to play basketball on a national scale, "and we're going to let him spread his wings," his father said.

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Jarace Walker, 14, soars above his teammates at Susquehannock and ninth grade opponents of Dover High School during a recent game in the auxiliary gym of Susquehannock high school. Jason Plotkin, York Daily Record

Jarace Walker, right, who stands several inches taller than most of his ninth grade teammates at Susquehannock, jokes around before the second half of a game against Dover High School. Walker, an eighth grader at Southern Middle School, is a national Top 10 prospect for his age group Jason Plotkin, York Daily Record

Jarace Walker, 14, passes off to his teammates at Susquehannock against his ninth grade opponents of Dover High School during a recent game in the auxiliary gym of Susquehannock high school.
"Jarace would rather give those kids a layup than him having a layup," said Horace Walker of his son. "When he does that it elevates them and gives them confidence." Jason Plotkin, York Daily Record

"He's always smiling and get a lot more joy out of playing basketball when he plays at Susquehannock," said Horace Walker of his son, Jarace, 14. "It's a lot less pressure. He's having a lot of fun playing." Jarace, an eighth grader at Southern Middle School, is a national Top 10 prospect for his age group Jason Plotkin, York Daily Record

Jarace Walker, 14, soars above his teammates at Susquehannock and ninth grade opponents of Dover High School during a recent game in the auxiliary gym of Susquehannock high school. Colleges are reaching out already to the eighth grade basketball player, with recruiting letters coming from Arizona and Syracuse Jason Plotkin, York Daily Record

Jarace Walker, 14, warms up before recent game in the auxiliary gym of Susquehannock high school. Walker, an eighth grader at Southern Middle School, is a national Top 10 prospect for his age group. Jason Plotkin, York Daily Record

Marcia, left, and Horace Walker, center, cheer for their son, Jarace,14, during a recent game at Susquehannock High School.
"Jarace would rather give those kids a layup than him having a layup," said Horace of his son. "When he does that it elevates them and gives them confidence." Jason Plotkin, York Daily Record

Marcia Walker talks with her son, Jarace, 14, about his schedule after a recent game at Susquehannock High School. Jarace, an eighth grader at Southern Middle School, stands 6-foot-4 and is already taller than his 5-foot-11 mother. Jason Plotkin, York Daily Record